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Very.co.uk

Very is owned by Shop Direct Group, and was launched as a trendier version of Littlewoods back in 2009. We reviewed the relaunched Very website two years ago.

Like many ‘catalogue’ retailers, it offers a credit account to customers, but I’m not sure that this is made as clear as it could be for online shoppers who may be unaware of this.

The basket doesn’t make the credit account clear either, only when you have entered your name, address and date of birth do you see this:

It seems that Very would prefer you to open an account as the other (non-credit account) payment options are well below the fold.

The sheer amount of blank space between the big credit account ‘continue’ button and the card payment options below makes it look a deliberate attempt to put the card payment option out of view:

On the next page, you do get some information about your credit account, but it isn’t exactly easy to scan the information.

The ‘important information’ section with details on the credit account contains almost 2,000 words in a relatively small font size, and you need to do plenty of scrolling if you want to read it.

Once my application (which I wasn’t totally aware I was making by pressing continue) is successful, the actual interest rate is presented in a similar way to the ‘important information’ in the previous step:

Only by scrolling through more small font text can you find the actual interest rate, which is a very important factor in a decision to open a credit account. In this case, it was 39% APR.

There are two problems here:

The interest rates are not made as clear as they could be to customers.

People are subjected to credit checks without being warned first – something which could damage people’s credit ratings.

Next

I was prompted to write this article after I accidentally opened a credit account with Next, when intending to pay by card.

I’m aware that Next does offer credit accounts, and am probably guilty of missing some small print.

As the screenshot below shows, I am applying for a credit account by clicking confirm, but I blindly ignored all small print and clicked complete, thinking that all I was doing was registering and heading to the payment page.

The problem here is that, though you can pay by credit or debit card, this option is only shown once you have completed your order, and been credit checked.

For people with less than perfect credit records, they would presumably be told that they have been turned down for an account before being offered the pay now option. Not the best way to get your customers to buy.

Obviously, customer accounts work well for Next. A ‘typical’ 25% APR on purchases means that it makes more money from these customers, and it’s a great retention tactic. People know they have a credit account with Next, so they can come back and make purchases without waiting for pay day.

However, I wonder if Next’s checkout process is deterring some customers who would rather not open a credit account by not making the alternative pay now option easy to reach.

Freemans

For comparison, I tried out Freemans’ checkout process, and this retailer seems to be much more upfront about its credit account and alternative pay now options.

Once you get to the payment stage, the options are clear:

You still have to select ‘view more’ to get some detail on the terms on the Flex Account, and it’s in small print, but at least it’s there:

Conclusion

With some high interest rates on offer, and the prospect of a credit check, (which can potentially damage people’s credit ratings if failed), then it’s important that shoppers know what they are getting before they press the button to apply for credit account online.

Though there is nothing illegal about it, and all the information about interest rates, charges etc is there somewhere, many retailers aren’t making at this clear to customers.

Let’s face it, very few people bother to look at the terms and conditions on websites, let alone read them in detail. For example, has anything ever bothered to read Apple’s 200 page T&Cs for the App Store on their mobiles?

This means that customers can be entering into credit agreements without being fully armed with the facts, which could mean unhappy customers further down the line. It also means that shoppers could be paying unnecessarily high rates, when a credit card may be a better option.

As a planner, data has always been the bread and butter of my professional career. Since the rise of planning teams in advertising agencies during the 70s, it has been our job to really get to know the consumers we are looking to reach, to get under their skin and understand what makes them tick.

We focus on collecting as much useful data as possible that can then be used alongside considered insight and observation to create more targeted campaigns that hit the nail on the head.

According to a newly-published study published by Pew, nearly three-quarters of Facebook users polled said they didn’t know that Facebook generates and stores data about their interests and traits, and, when they came to learn this, over half indicated that they were uncomfortable with Facebook’s practice.

Mastercard, the third-largest credit card processor in the US, has announced a new policy that will make it more difficult for some businesses to automatically convert free trials into recurring subscriptions.